The book is published, now comes the anxiety; how will your readers respond? It feels like one of those dreams when you discover you're somehow naked in the middle of a crowded room where everyone else is fully dressed.
I think you have to find a balance between accepting and learning from well-intended criticism and deflecting snipes from those readers who -- ZING!-- can take you out with one devastating remark. Praise too, can be hard to accept, though I'm not sure why.
Having written and published two novels and two nonfiction books, I now read with a more critical eye, yet a more empathetic understanding for fellow authors. Writing, like life, is a learn-as-you-go endeavour.
That said, I'm happy to share the first review of Surgeon's Mate, from David Hayes of Historic Naval Fiction, who recently interviewed me.
